Railway-car side-door frame.



W. J. KNOX.

RAILWAY GAR SIDE Doon FRAME.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1912.

1,079,652, 'Panama Nome@ 1913.

..... f/ Y l/ ff UNITED STATES rfiTENT oFFIoE.

i. WILLIAM J. KNOX, OF DUBOIS, PENNSYLVANIA, AASSIGNOR'TO COMMONWEALTH STEEL COMPANY, OFA ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A `CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

' T0 all `whom t may concern.'

RAILWAY-CAR SIDE-noon FRAME.

VSpecification of lLetters Patent.

Patented Nov. 25, 1913.

Application illed May 6, v1912. Serial No. 695,483.

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. KNOX, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dubois, Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Rail,-

way-Car Side-Door Frames, of whichthe followingis a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and' use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- 1 Figure 1 is yan elevational view ofja side door frame of my improved construction, Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken approximately on the line 2-2 of'Fig. 1.

Fig.' Buis" an enlarged detail section takenapproximately on the line 3*-3 ofFig. l;

Fig. 4 is 'a detail. section taken approxi-- mately on theline 4-4 of Fig. l.' Fig.. yis an elevational view ofthe lower portlon of the form of door frame utilized on cars having' continuous side sills. Fig. .v6-is a horizontal section taken approximately on the line.66j of'Fig. 5. Fig, 7 is an e'nlarged detail `section taken approximately on the line 7-7 of Fig. 5..

This invention ,relates generally to rail-- way cars, and more particularly to a panel or side ldoor frame-comprising ya pair of door posts and top and bottom rails, all of which parts are formed integral 'and are adapted' 'to be readily combined with lthe side sills and side plates of a car body frame to form a very strong and rigid construction that will be particularly effective in resisting service strainsand stresses.

In vcars having continuous side sills extending from the fl'oorlevel to the-window sills, thel greater portion of the load is carried by sald sills, but in cars having'large side door openingssuch as baggage, express and mail cars, the door openmg extends to the floor level or thereabout, thereb materially reducing the depth of .the si e sills, and

where cars are thus constructed, it is necessary that the side sills be made very much heavier'in the locality of the door openings in order to proportionately distribute the load-carrying strength of thev side sills. v

The principal object of my invention is to provide a one-piece cast metal frame com prising a pair of posts and top and bottom rails that are adapted to engage the top and bottom chords of the car side frame, and

which rails perform the. function of reinforcing members to bridge the space above' l and-below the wide door openingnecessary inthe sides of'cars particularly utilized as baggage, .express and mail cars.

To the above purposes my invention con- 'sists in certain novel features of construcsions 2 that project beyond the lower ends of the posts 1, which extensions provide means for attaching the'corresponding ends of the sections of the side sills, as'shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4. 'Formed integral with the upper 4ends of the posts 1 is a chan# nel-shaped top rail 4 that'forrns a lintel for the' door frame,- andthe ends of this rail project beyond the posts 1, as designated by 4".

The top plate of the car frame, which is usually a continuous ,flanged member, lies immediately abovefand is rigidly fixed to the rail l4 and its extensions'4a, and where thefdoo'r frame is constructed for use in connection with side frames having top plates that are Z-shaped in cross-section, the outer face of-'the rail 4 isslightly recessed, as designated by 4*J in order to accommodate the depending outer flange of said side plate'.

Integral strengthening webs 4a are formed on the interior yof the top rail 4, and cor-- responding strengthening ribs 2b are formedv -within the bottom rail 2. v y

The form-of the frame illustrated in Figs.

31 to 4 inclusive is designed particularly for yuse in connection with side sill members of an underframe that are madein sections, and

where such construction is carried out, the

central portion of the rail`2V is made comlparatively heavy in order to provide the requisite strength between the `adjacent endsv of the' sections of the sections of the side sill. Theextensions 2a in this form of the framel are slightly oilset relative to the front and bottom faces of the central portion of the rail 2 in order to accommodate' the flanges of the side sills.

' In the form of frame utilized in connectionl with continuous side sills the bottom rail 2 canlbe made comparatively light in weight, and the lower portion of the outer face of-said rail is recessed, as shown in Fig.' 7 in order to accommodate the vertically disposed flange of the side sill.

A side door frame of my improved construction is comparatively simple, can be easily and cheaply manufactured, and being formed in a single piece, can be readily combined with and connected to the side sills and top' plat/es of a car body frame with comparatively little labor and expense.

l The frame provides `a strong, rigid panel l for the side of a car. frame, and the continnous top and bottom rails combine with the side'sills and top plates of the car frame to form a particularly 'strong construction above and below the widedoor opening.

It will be readily, understood that minor changes .in the-size, form and construction of the various part's of my improved side door frame can bem'ade and substituted for those herein shown and described without.

departing -from the spirit of my invention, the scope of whiclifis set forth in .the vap'- pendedclaims.

Iclaim:- '1. Thev combination with a railway car side frame top andb'ottom chords, of a car -door frame 'cast in asinglepiece, comprising vertically disposed channel-shaped members which perform' the functions of door.

posts, lateral extensions at the ends of said upright members for attachment to the upper andl lower chords of the car side frame,- a' horizontal channel-shaped member between the upper ends of said upright mem-- bers, which horizontal member performs thev function of a door framelintel, and a horizontal channel-shaped member vbetween the lowerends of the upright members, the

top ange of whichlast mentioned channelshaped member extends inwardly a substantial distance to form a'threshold plate for thedoor frame.

v2. The combination with va railway car slide frame top and bottom chords',- of' a car zontal channel-shaped memberbetween the lower ends of the upright members, which last mentioned member performs the function ofa. door sill, and a threshold plate integral with andA extending rearwardly from the last mentioned horizontally disposed member. 1

3. As a new article of manufacture Va car side door frame, comprising apair of substantially. channel-shaped posts, a substantially channel-shaped rail between the upper ends of said posts, extensionso-n the ends of said rail for attachment to the side plate of a car side frame, a substantially channelshaped rail between the lower portions of the posts, an inwardly projecting threshold i 1 plate on the upper portion of said last mentioned rail, extensions at the ends of said last mentioned rail for' attachmentv to the `side sill of the car frame, all ofvwhich'parts are cast integral. 'I 4.

' 4. The herein described car side door frame cast in a single piece, and comprising a pair of substantially hollow door posts, a su stantially hollow lintel between the upper ends of said door posts, extensionsV at the ends of .the lintel for attachment to thecar frame sideplate, a substantially hollow sill member between the lower ends of the posts,

a threshold plate integral with said sill, and extensions' at the ends of said sillV member for attachment to Ithe side sill of the car body frame, which lastmentioned extensions are off-set with respect to the main body portion of the sill member.`

soy

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my v signature in the presence of two Witnesses, this 27th day of April, 1912. v r WM. J. KNOX.

l/Vit'nesses: p r p HAL C. BELLVILLE, FRED W. D1ECKMANN. 

